We didn’t expect to be giving the race any more coverage until reports emerged of a brawl breaking out at the teams’ hotel, leaving two riders hospitalised.

A report in Prensa Libra claims that race leader Mainor Rojas and his Reitt-Zumco-Mincho teammates withdrew from the event after Sunday’s stage six after race organisers failed to punish anyone for an altercation in the peloton which led to one of their riders being hit and knocked to the ground.

Tempers then flared at the hotel, when riders and staff from the Reitt-Zumco-Mincho and Frijoles Los Tiernitocos-Arroz Halcon teams began to fight and even threw stones at each other, leaving Rónald Araya and Nieves Carrasco in hospital – the former requires surgery on broken ribs.

In the brawl, members of the Reitt team accused ‘Los Frijolitos’ of stealing some of their belongings – a claim that the team denies.

The Tour continues until Christmas Day, with the final stage taking place in La Aurora.

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